Common Sense Singing Blog:
The Emperor’s New Voice
examinations by a malcontent vocal altruist
Unequally Yoked
One of my all time favorite film actors is Spencer Tracy. To me Tracy stood out from his contemporaries by being so “natural” and not the typical. One would think that being “natural” is typical, but as history would have it, not all attributes are given their proper...
Numbers, Forgers, and Homicide
My parents strongly encouraged my brothers and sisters and me to participate in a variety of arts. Growing up in the 70’s coincided with the decline of the paint-by-numbers cultural phenomenon. During each 3 month summer school break, we personally had our own...
Tales of ‘The One Problem’
Little is known of 12th century architect, Diotisalvi. However, his campanile is world renown. It shares The Piazza dei Miracoli (Square of Miracles) with a Cathedral, Baptistry, and the Campo Santo (Holy Field). It is perhaps the most well-known structural...
Schrödinger’s Cat Walks Pavlov’s Dog
I was in the 4th grade when I got my first dog. My dad took me to the city animal shelter and we chose an 8 week old male puppy. I named him Prince. He was a German Shepherd and Border Collie mix and to this day the smartest dog I had ever met. His co-operation and...
Race and the F-word.
“What is you?” A frequent question I have been asked throughout my life. More often than not I have been amused by the randomness of the questioners and their reasons for asking. And their reactions to my answer. I am half Filipino (dad) and half Portuguese (mom)....
The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.
Go to a magic show.Purposely witness illusions.Then identify and break yours.Inspire your senses by creating in your magic.Magic grows your senses.Let your senses instruct your world.Let your failures be someone else's successPatience grows with magic.Your world will...
Cake for a pair of jeans and a mullet.
I don’t drink coffee. But I love the smell of coffee and I do love the taste of coffee flavored foods. Ice cream, candy, desserts. Tiramisu is my favorite. It is the single most perfect invention. Simple, smooth, flavorful. Nothing - I repeat - nothing can be enjoyed...
If you think you understand quantum mechanics, you don’t understand quantum mechanics.
Just sing.Singing is like a great joke: explaining it can ruin it.The science will happen anyway.Some things we grow out of; some we grow into.Understanding singing is understanding a human's condition.Knowing a thing is not the same as being able to teach that...
Cigarettes, old boxers and football players, and cars.
I went to a high school that had a student smoking section. This was a rather absurd practice considering cigarettes for teenagers were illegal for well over a decade. Since 1970 to be exact. My alma mater, Ed W. Clark High School opened in 1965. When I...
Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me.
Donate some clothes. Paint a room. Be okay with change. Change one thing for the better about your routine today. Help one stranger today. Laugh at least once per hour. Change one person’s mood for the better today. Smile every hour. Find a way to say “Yes” to what...